Gridlock in the UK

Hiring a car in the UK can be a frustrating experience, particularly when it comes to the stop start driving that's becoming the norm around our cities.

Recent research from Tom Tom shows the cities to avoid and those in which you might be able to cruise around a little more easily:

Top Congested Spots: London took the not-so-coveted top spot (no shock there then), with Scotland's capital city, Edinburgh, a whiskers' breath behind in second place

Biggest increase in traffic congestion: Oxford and now also in third 'congestion' place. A surprising result for our 'city of dreaming spires' - back of the class please!

Just behind Oxford is Belfast where 31% of roads are classed as congested, followed by Bradford (30%), Manchester (30%) and Birmingham (28%).

The least congested big towns or cities are Northampton, Warwick and Chesterfield, all with congestion rates of less than 10%.

While we can't promise you a congestion free journey we can suggest that a slap up meal is added to your city itinerary with the pounds saved by buying a car hire excess policy direct from iCarhireinsurance.com, from £2.99 daily or £39.99 for an annual policy.

Gridlock is bad enough to deal with but at least the pill is sweetened if you haven't spent up to £17 a day on excess insurance from the rental desk.